ASTROLOGER IN REVERSE

Multi-media, 2013 - Ongoing

This project​ borrows its title from the Romantic poet/philosopher Novalis, who called miners “astrologers in reverse” because they plunge deep into the Earth and uncover “hidden origins.” Astrologer in Reverse pursues the deeply buried stratum in people, culture, and dirt, characterized by the underground tunnels extending 1,150 feet below the surface of my hometown, Franklin, New Jersey.

Franklin sits in the New Jersey Highlands atop an ancient iron and zinc-bearing deposit said to resemble the hull of a ship. Over centuries, miners perilously extracted the valuable ore, as theories of its genesis were advanced and refuted. The mine and community thrived through the Great Depression and the First and Second World Wars, but on September 30, 1954—with its profitability exhausted—the mine permanently closed.

In Spring 2013—the 100th anniversary of the town—I began surveying Franklin's physical, as well as mental topography through interviews, photos, drone footage, 3D models, maps, field notes, drawings, and video. This on-going project treats ‘home’ as a foreign place, and unfolds as an endless search for origins.